Recycled Denim Cleo

This style of dress has the most names I have ever encountered. Overall dress, dungaree dress, pinafore… I grew up calling it a jumper, so that’s what I’m going with here.

This is my second version of this pattern. It’s the first pattern to receive the high honors of a repeat project. Though I do wonder why I need two jumpers in my closet, but something just screamed at me that these two are both incredibly worth it. Is that a sewing gut instinct?

The Inspiration

I was totally enamored by this denim jumper from ASOS I found while perusing the internet.

This is an amazing pattern. It’s already all over the internet. Just google it.

The Hack

Okay hacking this pattern was actually more complicated than I thought it would be. And I didn’t take many pictures… lame. I’ll do my best to describe the process.

The most difficult part was the diagonal section on the front of the dress. To create a pattern piece, I traced the pattern on a roll of large paper. I basically created the front piece of the dress as if there were no center seam (I subtracted the seam allowance from the center). I drew two diagonal lines to create my new pattern piece. I then cut these out and traced them again to add seam allowances (important step).

I did a similar process with the back, but since I kept the center back seam, the process was a little easier. I took one picture of this part 👍🏼

I followed the instructions as written, making sure to stitch up my extra pieces before joining the center seams.

The Fabric

I deconstructed three pairs of jeans for this jumper. All were around a US size XL. I first took my seam ripper to the pockets. Then I cut off the waistbands of each pair of jeans. I then cut around each zipper (saving it… for something?). I then cut the crotch seam apart. Finally, I seam ripped up the outside leg seam on each leg. This left me with four usable leg pieces.

I didn’t use interfacing in this dress. Mainly because I haven’t found a reclaimed alternative. My facing pieces are from the same denim and I found it provided a nice amount of stiffness.

Final Thoughts

This pattern is great for recycled fabrics. I especially like the button option; it’s much easier to come across used buttons than used overall buckles. Plus, the no-sew buttons on overalls and jeans are rather impossible to reuse. If anyone has found a way to do this, let me know.

This is my new favorite workshop dress. It’s sturdy, tough, and I can imagine myself wearing it all year long. I’m already dreaming about this dress over leggings and boots in the winter.
P.S. Shoutout to Kyle for the photo cred.